News U.S. Southeastern Snow disaster Jan 2014

[Zatnikitelman]

Don't know if anyone else has heard about the disaster that has struck the Southeastern United States, but I thought I would create a topic so those of us in the area can let the community know we're ok. Ill put a topic in the basement later about the causes of this since that gets highly political.

I got lucky and my campus cancelled 30 seconds after I left the driveway so I got to watch things from my computer screen and tv.

I talked to Michaeldim last night, he had about a 2.5 hour, 3 mile commute, but made it home ok.

 

[Urwumpe]

Atlanta, GA: German prediction for tomorrow: -9 to +5°C, clear sunny day

Hey, you have the same weather that we have here.

 

[Codz]

Yep. 4 inches of snow and everything comes to a screeching halt in metro-Atlanta.

 

[jedimaster1214]

In Florida, we got black ice and light snow!

 

[Fabri91]

I'm sorry, but how does this qualify as a disaster? I get it that it snows very rarely at those latitudes, but a disaster?

 

[Urwumpe]

I'm sorry, but how does this qualify as a disaster? I get it that it snows very rarely at those latitudes, but a disaster?

Its like Northern Germany. One snowflake on the wind screen of a car, and all Audi Drivers go nuts.

 

[Zatnikitelman]

I'm sorry, but how does this qualify as a disaster? I get it that it snows very rarely at those latitudes, but a disaster?

There are people that left at 14:00 yesterday that still aren't home at 14:00 today. That's a disaster. As I said, I'll go into the details in the basement later because it's effectively a manmade (politician-made) disaster.

 

[boogabooga]

And Canada is laughing at you.

Even in the UP of Michigan, snowfall is measured in feet, not inches...

 

[Mandella]

That disaster is why I'm sitting here at home surfing the internet instead of doing something productive.

And I would classify this as more of a "mess" than "disaster." (For instance, most of us still have power -- loss of power over this whole area would be a real disaster.)

But my wife is indeed "trapped" in town, but fortunately has a fully equipped studio to take refuge in. But she cannot drive the ten miles to get home.

 

[Urwumpe]

But my wife is indeed "trapped" in town, but fortunately has a fully equipped studio to take refuge in. But she cannot drive the ten miles to get home.

What happened... SUVs prove to be a big crappy piece of junk when you need offroad capability?

16 km... I used to drive 45 km in much worse weather than what you have. Needed 1.5 hours for a distance that usually took 30 minutes. But I arrived safely. Sometimes I needed more time, when I had to check if somebody who drifted from the road was needing medical attention.

 

[Artlav]

There are people that left at 14:00 yesterday that still aren't home at 14:00 today.

Why exactly is that?

According to the weather averages it's not that unusual to have snow there in the winter, so the cars should be equipped for below-freezing driving.
At worst, a set of chains in the spare wheel compartment is a must.
And in Atlanta the city there is subway and other sorts of weather-indepedent public transport - does it all fail to work?

There is exactly nothing about it in local news here, and things like CNN are full of political stuff instead of describing the actual problems.

And Canada is laughing at you.
Even in the UP of Michigan, snowfall is measured in feet, not inches...

Sure, we all do well in our home weather. But try to put a snow-ready Canadian into a middle-eastern desert town at summer - how would he do?

---------- Post added at 23:20 ---------- Previous post was at 23:17 ----------

Ah, so basically the problem was that everyone started moving home at once, thus collapsing all transportation?

 

[Donamy]

What happened... SUVs prove to be a big crappy piece of junk when you need offroad capability?

16 km... I used to drive 45 km in much worse weather than what you have. Needed 1.5 hours for a distance that usually took 30 minutes. But I arrived safely. Sometimes I needed more time, when I had to check if somebody who drifted from the road was needing medical attention.

You don't when no one is moving in front of you. Chains aren't worth a damn.

 

[Yoda]

Chains ??
In 4 inches of snow ????
That's just nuts; here in Colorado ( were I've lived for almost 20 years) I have never even owned a pair of chains; we get snow up to 15 inches here at times and you just deal with it.
Just drive slow, keep moving and keep your distance.
It's not rocket science !

This Atlanta thing is just a joke; laughing my ass off.:rofl:

 

[Urwumpe]

Chains ??
In 4 inches of snow ????

I had been driving through 40 cm snow drifts with all-weather tires back then (now winter tires are mandatory)... chains... in the mountains maybe, but here, it is a waste of time, especially if you have such little bit of snow. You would be killing the pavement with 4 inches of snow and chains.

We currently have 10 cm or 4 inches of snow here. Only the bigger roads are cleared. We had some worse traffic chaos on the first day of snow fall, because many people underestimated the slippery roads. But now its back to normal - every morning 3 km traffic jam on the Autobahn to the Volkswagen plant.

 

[jedidia]

Chains ??
In 4 inches of snow ????

It does depend on how steep it is. In Bosnia, chains are a usual sight at 4 inches... because the winter service sucks, and you have lots of roads (especially in towns) with a lot more than 10% steepness.

But give me a VW Golf 2 with good tires and a set of chains, and there's not place I can't go until there's at least half a meter. Though I might freeze to death on the way, because the heating in those things is usually the first thing that fails after the tape deck (yes, tape).

 

[RisingFury]

When I was young, I had to walk 20 kilometers in deep snow just to get my copy of Orbiter! :lol:

 

[MattBaker]

As someone who grew up in the Alps on 800 meters where a "snow disaster" was more than half a meter of snow...not impressed. It's not that hard to check your weather forecasts and prepare for the conditions.

 

[MaverickSawyer]

What happened... SUVs prove to be a big crappy piece of junk when you need offroad capability?

Nope. They're flatlanders, and don't know how to safely drive on ice and snow. :lol: Also, they don't have many chains or snow tires there.

:hmm: Then again, neither do I, but I get more opportunities to learn. Just not this year.

 

[Mandella]

What happened... SUVs prove to be a big crappy piece of junk when you need offroad capability?

Well, no. That would not be it at all.

But thanks for the sentiment. I'll try to return it when something untoward happens in your region of the world.

 

[Kyle]

I suppose this is the north's payback to the south after us southerners laughed at them for overreacting with Hurricanes Irene and Sandy.

At least they're not calling it a "super storm."